奧巴馬或任何一位總統被允許三次連任?

With the anniversary of the 22nd Amendment on Friday, Constitution Daily looks at two hot-button topics: Should a President be allowed to serve a third term? And should members of Congress and the Supreme Court have term limits like the President?

本週五是憲法第22修正案的周年紀念日，今日憲法關注了兩個熱點話題：總統應被允許第三任期嗎？以及，國會議員和最高法院成員應像總統一樣有任期限制嗎？

22nd Amendment brought the idea of term limits into the constitution. When it was ratified in 1951, the amendment limited a president from effectively serving a third term, by saying that a president who won't wo elections can't run a third time.

憲法第22修正案將（總統）任期限制的想法寫入了憲法。其於1951年被批准，修正案規定：已贏得兩次選舉的總統不能參加第三次選舉，限制了總統可能出現的第三任期。

The 22nd Amendment also bars a President from serving more than 10 years in office, in a case of a president who assumed office as Vice President.

憲法第22修正案同時也禁止總統執政超過10年，以防總統以"副總統"之名把持朝政。

For example, Vice President Gerald Ford took over for President Richard Nixon in 1974 and served more than two years as president. If Ford had defeated Jimmy Carter in the 1976 presidential election, Ford could not have run for re-election.

舉例來說，副總統傑拉爾德·福特在理查德·尼克松後接任總統，並已在位超過兩年。如果福特在1976年大選中擊敗吉米·卡特，他將不能連任。

Long before the 22nd Amendment, George Washington had set an unofficial precedent in 1796 when he decided several months before the election not to seek a third term. But Alexander Hamilton and many Founders wanted a strong executive, and they opposed term limits as a concept. Thomas Jefferson and an equally influential group of Founders supported term limits for the President.

早在第22修正案之前，喬治華盛頓於1796年大選前幾個月，決定不尋求第三任期，開創了一個非官方的慣例。但亞歷山大·漢密爾頓和許多合衆國奠基人想要一個強有力的執行者,他們反對將任期限制條文化。托馬斯·傑斐遜及另一同樣具有很大影響力的元老團體支持對總統作出任期限制。

The only person to break from Washington's precedent was President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with a record-setting four election wins. Before Roosevelt ran for re-election in 1940, most Presidents didn't try for a third term in office, let alone a third consecutive term.

唯一一個打破華盛頓總統慣例的是富蘭克林·d·羅斯福總統，創下了連勝四屆選舉的記錄（譯註：當時正值二戰）。在羅斯福1940年再次競選之前，大多數總統都沒嘗試過第三屆任期，更別提三屆連任了。

Roosevelt's distant cousin, Theodore, came the closest to breaking the precedent in 1912, when he ran for President a second time. Theodore Roosevelt succeeded President William McKinley in 1901 and had served about 7 ½ years in the White House. Theodore Roosevelt passed on running for a third consecutive term in 1908, fully aware of the Washington precedent. But after a fallout with President William Howard Taft, Roosevelt sough a third nonconsecutive term in the 1912 presidential election. He lost the election but came in second ahead of Taft. (Woodrow Wilson and Harry Truman briefly considered seeking a third term but passed.)

羅斯福的遠房親戚，西奧多羅斯福總統在1912年最先接近打破慣例，那時他第三次擔任總統。西奧多羅斯福於1901年繼任前任總統威廉·麥金萊（譯註：其被刺殺，西奧多以副總統之位繼任）當時他已在白宮工作了七年半，他明確知悉華盛頓的先例，但仍執意參加1908年選舉。不過敗於總統威廉·霍華德·塔夫脫，但於1912年總統選舉中獲勝，開始了非連任的第三任期。他雖在選舉中敗於塔夫脫，但在打破（連任）慣例上卻先於塔夫脫。（伍德羅·威爾遜和哈里·杜魯門也曾有過第三任期的念頭，不過都錯過了機會）

After Franklin Roosevelt died in 1945, momentum built for a presidential term-limits amendment. Congress passed it in 1947, and it was ratified by the states in 1951.

在1945年富蘭克林羅斯福去世後，有了一個爲總統增加任期限制修正案的勢頭。國會於1947年通過修正案，於1951年被簽署批准正式生效。

Since then, several members of Congress have introduced bills to repeal the 22nd Amendment. The latest was offered by Representative Jose Serrano on January 4, 2013.

自那時起，一些國會議員提出議案希望廢除第22憲法修正案。如最近的，2013年1月4日代表Jose Serrano提出的議案。

In fact, Serrano has offered the same bill since 1997–during the presidencies of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. The bills were tabled each time.

實際上，Serrano從1997年就開始提出這樣的提案，無論在比爾·克林頓的總統任期還是喬治·w·布什總統任期亦或巴拉克·奧巴馬總統任期。這議案每次都被拿上臺面。

Representative Steny Hoyer offered similar bills in the past and current Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sponsored a similar bill in 1995—during the Clinton administration. Barney Frank and Jerry Nadler also presented anti-22nd Amendment bills in the past.

代表Steny Hoyer曾提出類似議案，現任參議院多數派領袖Mitch McConnell在1995年克林頓政府期間也提出過相似的議案。Barney Frank 和Jerry Nadler也曾提出過反第22憲法修正案的議案。

There was no interest among legislators in pursuing a 22nd Amendment repeal, probably because most people are happy with term limits for the President. The odds of getting 38 states to ratify an amendment would be very, very steep.

對立法者來說，他們沒什麼興趣追求廢止憲法第22修正案，最可能的原因是大部分人都樂於見到總統的任期限制。並且讓38個州都通過一個修正案的機率是十分渺茫的。

However, the issue of term limits for Congress is a different matter. In a Gallup poll in January 2013, about 75 percent of Americans polled favored limiting terms for Congress members.

不過，國會議員任期限制就是另一碼事了。2013年1月的蓋洛普民意調查顯示，大約75%的美國人贊同對國會成員作出任期限制。

Gallup said when the same question was asked in 1994 and 1996, between two-thirds and three-quarters of Americans favored a constitutional amendment to limiting congressional terms.

蓋洛普表示，針對同樣問題，在1994及1996年，三分之二到四分之三的受訪美國人支持對國會議員作出任期限制。

In the 2013 poll, there was more support for congressional term limits (75 percent) than ending the Electoral College (60 percent).

在2013年民意調查中，對國會議員作出任期限制比結束選舉人團制度更受人們支持。（支持率分別爲75%和60%)

And then there is the issue of term limits for judges appointed under the conditions of the Constitution's Article III, including Supreme Court Justices.

接下來就是在憲法第三條（譯註：其關於美國聯邦政府的司法部門）的背景下法官的任命問題，這也包括最高法院法官。

These non-elected officials serve as long as they exhibit "good behavior" and can only be removed from office under the Constitution's impeachment process.

這些非經選舉產生的官員只要表現"優良行爲"就可以一直在任，而且，只有經過憲法彈劾程序，政府才能罷免這些官員。

The frequent debate over term limits for the Supreme Court centers on the need for an independent judiciary versus even closer ties between Justices and the Presidents who appoint them.

對最高法院法官任期限制往往聚焦於司法獨立的需要，與總統和任命的法官間緊密關係的爭論上。